I can’t run and scream at the same time. There’s too much hurt. Not enough air. I can barely even walk with the extra weight around my leg. The distance is short, but it takes me ages. When I finally reach Mei Yee and the smoking man, Dai is gone. Sucked into the tide of criminals and Security Branch.
“W-wait!” I’m wheezing, bent over. Trying to ignore my sunburst pain. The wound is catching up, draining me of my last, vital reserves. “Bring him b-back!”
“If you want to see him, you’ll have to arrange a visitation at the correctional institution.” A frown crosses the man’s face. I think it’s because he’s almost done with his cigarette. “Can’t tell you which one yet.”
“I have what you want.”
This seems to get his attention. He swivels around on his heels. Looks at me. The extra skin of his neck bunches into his chin.
“And what might that be?”
I’m about to reach for it, but I take a longer look at the man’s face. It’s lit up. Orange and hellish. “Bring Dai back and I’ll show you.”
The man scowls and tosses his cigarette to the ground. He doesn’t even bother stamping it out. He disappears into the crowd, calling after Dai and his officer.
I watch the cigarette die. Just one more piece of trash to step on.
Mei Yee stares at it, too. “Do you really have it?”
Before I can answer, the man is back. A bewildered officer and Dai follow him like toy train cars. All three of them stare. Waiting.
I reach down to the binding on my thigh, where Dai’s revolver is wedged tight against the cloth. My hand grabs what it needs out of the thick, stretchy fabric. Pulls.
The man in the trench coat stares. His mouth is open, oddly empty without his cigarette. His hands stretch out. Reaching desperately for what I’m holding.
I reached for it the same way, when the music girl, Nuo, and a girl named Wen Kei showed me what they were hiding. After Longwai barreled through the lounge and blocked all ways to Dai, Nuo grabbed my wrist. Took me back to her room. Her chest was puffed up when she tugged the ledger from under her bed. The pride was in her words, too, when she explained how she snuck up Longwai’s stairs while he was busy questioning Mei Yee. Used hairpins on the locks. A skill she inherited from a girl named Sing.
I pull the book back. Away from the man. The dragon’s gold leafing shines almost green under the streetlights. I hug the soft red leather to my aching chest. It fits well there. “Let Dai go. Like you promised.”
The man stares at the cornerstone book. There’s something like relief in his eyes. In the part of his lips. He turns back to the officer holding Dai. “Uncuff him.”
I wait until the cuffs are completely off. Dai’s arms fall free. The right one heavy and awkward. Dai cradles it tenderly as I hand over Longwai’s book of secrets. The cigaretteless man flips through the pages. His lips are together now. Pulled up into a smile.
“Longwai’s ass on a platter,” he says. Snaps the cover shut like a dragon’s jaws.
“We good, Tsang?” Dai’s syllables are dislocated, sweating with effort and pain. I can’t listen to him without remembering my own hurt.
“It’s after midnight. And technically you weren’t the one to hand over the book. But…” The man—Tsang—reaches into his trench coat. Pulls out a white fold of paper. “I’m in a good mood. I’ll give you this one, Sun Dai Shing.”
Dai takes the paper with hungry fingers. Clenching so tight the edges rumple. He thrusts it deep, deep into the pocket of his hoodie.
Tsang tucks the ledger under his arm. Looks at each of us in turn. Eyes gleaming. “Take my advice, kids. Get out of Hak Nam. They’ll be tearing it down. Turning it into a park.”
“That’s the plan,” I tell him. I look back at my sister.
“Good luck with that.” Tsang turns to go.
“Wait!” Mei Yee’s cry stops him midstep. “What—what’s going to happen? To Longwai? To all the girls?”
Tsang gives the book a fond pat, as if he’s stroking a cat. “There’s enough evidence here to put Longwai and his men in jail for a very long time. And the girls…” His eyes drift over to the streetlamp the girls are huddled under. A self-created, silk-clad herd. “They’re free to go.”
The girls churn and mill in their flimsy, colored dresses. They look so lost and trapped at the same time. Like the bright groups of fish crammed into restaurant tanks.
“Go where?” Mei Yee asks.
“Not my problem.” Tsang shrugs and walks away. No one stops him.
I’m not moving anymore. But the pain is. I have to sit. It doesn’t matter that the ground is covered with glass and spent cigarettes. I got what I came for. My family is whole and I’m done. Done running, fighting, and hiding. Done standing.
I end up on the ground. It’s more of a fall than a sit.
“Jin!” Dai kneels down next to me.
“I’m”—I try to wave him off—“fine.… Do you have any money on you?”
“Money?” He frowns. “I gave you all the cash I had. What do you need it for?”
“The vagrants… Kuen’s old gang… they helped get you out.” I’m wheezing. “I promised to pay them.”
“We’ll get the money,” he tells me. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“You’re bleeding,” he says. Points at the dark, wet spot on my dress.
“So are you,” I point to his shoulder. “I just need to rest. That’s all.”
He settles next to me. Lands straight on top of Tsang’s discarded cigarette. “I think we all do.”